Faction Before Love
by Hoglets
Summary: The Divergent Series based on Uriah Pedrad's childhood. Maria is a new character added. She is not Marlene or anyone already in the Divergent Series.
1. Uriah And Maria Meet

That night I met Maria. She sat with a vulnerable expression. I knew her from school as the smartass girl. I'm sure her friends hauled her to this party. I didn't hesitate to walk over to her. I bent down so we could talk face to face.

"Maria!" I shout over the music.

She looks up wide eyed. "Yes?" She asks. I can scarcely hear her soft voice.

"I'm Uriah. Want to dance?" I ask.

She's unsure whether she wants to or not. I smirk at her face. It's filled with concern and confusion.

"Relax, I don't bite." I say as I pull her up.

I pull her towards the crowd. She's still unsure but doesn't argue with me. Her eyes lighten up as I show her my famous dance moves. And then I see it. Her expression changes. The corners of her lips pull upward. All of her teeth show. She smiled at me. The beautiful Maria smile.

It's a few minutes until I notice her smile disappears. Maria is now the only one not dancing. I stop dancing too. I laugh at her.

"Is that a new dance move, Maria? You've got to show me how it's done!" I laugh.

"Hilarious." She says.

"Well why'd you stop?" I ask. I think the laughter has finally drained out of me.

"I am a little claustrophobic." She says.

I grab her hand to realize it's all sweaty. She immediately pulls away in embarrassment. She drags her fingers throw her hair as a distraction.

"Come on." I say. I lead her out of the crowd.

She follows me to the pit. Everyone is either partying or asleep and leaves few people roaming the pit. I bring her away from the roamers. I place my right hand around her waist and the other I hold her right hand in. She seems to follow and places her spare hand around my neck. I chuckle at how she can barely reach. She gives me a sarcastic laugh and then we dance.

All we do is dance.


	2. Hangover

"Uriah!" A voice complained.

I find myself only moaning. I feel exhausted, my eyes keep dropping dead. I push myself up. My eyes are closed but the darkness I see is distracted by a beam of light.

"Close the blinds!" I whine.

Sunlight is obnoxious. I wish it was night. The beautiful moonlight. How the starts twinkle throughout-

Nausea. It pushes up through me. Bile crowds inside my throat before I can get out of bed. As I do pull myself out of bed the vomit pours out of me. Zeke jumps back and bumps into the closet door. The door slowly slides open and beer bottles pour out. His eyes go wide and he's in panic mode.

"Zeke?" I muttered as I finished throwing up. Luckily the floor was wooden unlike Zeke's carpeted bedroom. I still have to clean it up though.

I turn towards Zeke who is throwing the bottles inside the closet.

"Zeke?" I repeat. "You drank?" I asked.

Zeke isn't the kind of kid who would underage drink. He wouldn't kill a fly as the innocent boy he is. He's smart, handsome, he's Zeke. But I'm Uriah. I'm the supreme package of hotness.

"No," Zeke moans, "You did." He finishes shoving the last bottle into the closet.

"What." I say biting my lip.

He locks the closet door and turns toward me panting. He wipes a sweat that clings onto his wrinkles and leans against the closet door. "You really don't remember?" He asks.

And all of it comes back to me. "I drank a lot." I say as I fall back into bed.

"School starts in thirty minutes. Mom and dad left for work. I'd get rid of these bottles for good if I were you." Zeke says walking towards the door. "Not to mention the vomit pile." He leaves before I can say anything.

So I shout. "Thank you!"

I throw my backpack over a shoulder. I almost missed the train ride to school. By the time I am on the train I am out of breathe. I notice a girl leaning against a barrel. Her slick black hair is tied in the perfect ponytail. Her face is hidden behind a book. Maria. I remember instantly. The memories come back. We danced together. Danced, danced, and danced. I forget how I lost her and somehow started drinking and then ended up in my bedroom. Who knows what happened. Who knows if she even likes me anymore?

I give it a chance. I walk over towards her and slid down beside her.


	3. The Promise

"Maria." I say, rubbing a hand against my forehead.

She turns towards me with a surprised, almost frightened, look. I bite my lips.

"Yes?" She asks, and I regain hope.

Then, I freeze. What am I supposed to say? _So, what happened, like, last night? _

"Hey. Did you study for that test today?" She blurts out to fill the awkward silence. When I realize what she asked, I release a curse and shove my hands into my face. Then, I realize Maria is sitting beside me. I look up at her wrinkled forehead.

"A little." I lie. I haven't studied at all. I never study because I don't need to. I know that when the choosing ceremony comes, I will stay divergent and live my life to the fullest. Unlike those boring Erudite or the selfless Abnegation. I doubt I need to know any of the information on this test. But I lied for the concerned look on Maria's face.

"Okay." She says.

The rest of the ride is in silence.

After the test I meet Maria in the cafeteria. I try my best to stall getting to the cafeteria; dropping my books, _accidentally_; leaving my lunch in my locker, _accidentally_; forgetting to write down the homework assignment,_ accidentally_. But, somehow, I made it. I see Maria at the lunch table, alone. We make eye contact for a second. I look down at the floor, thinking about sitting somewhere else. She already saw me though. I nudge myself towards the table.

I sit down, avoiding eye contact. _She knows. _I think_. She knows I failed, that I didn't study._ I smile at her, ignoring the thoughts. But I guess I didn't try hard enough to push the thoughts aside, as they seep into her brain.

"You didn't study, did you?" She asks.

I shake my head, not looking up from my tray of food.

"And you probably failed?" She could answer that for herself.

"Uriah!" She raises her voice.

"Hey!" I announce as my eyes dart up to her. "You're not my parents so don't even think about lecturing me."

I immediately regret it.

I think she's going to scream an insult back or leave or something. But all she says is "Okay."

She doesn't wait for me to answer.

Maria slides her hand across the table to mine. She grabs it and holds on. I hope she doesn't feel the sweat. She leans in towards me. We're not supposed to be touching, it's a school rule. "I have to go to. Promise me you will study for tomorrow's history quiz." She whispers. Then, my hand is released. She shoves back her seat and jumps up. She didn't wait for my answer to leave. It was yes.


End file.
